Authorities end chase but catch up with man at trailer home

Five days after speeding away from an Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy on I-43 at an estimated 130 mph, a 29-year-old man wanted by multiple law enforcement agencies was arrested Sunday, Sept. 30, at a Town of Grafton trailer home after he was seen passed out in his car, according to two criminal complaints charging him with multiple crimes.

Authorities found Matthew M. Buelow of Cedar Grove, who appeared to be on drugs, hiding under a sleeping bag in what they described as a filthy trailer home on North Port Washington Road, one of the complaints states.

On Tuesday, Sept. 25, deputy Matthew Haas stopped a tan minivan on I-43 in Mequon after he saw it weaving. The driver lied about his name, but Haas recognized him as Buelow from previous encounters.

With Buelow pulled over on the side of the freeway, Haas went back to his squad car to request backup and learned that both the Port Washington and Grafton police departments were looking for Buelow.

When Haas returned to Buelow’s minivan and ordered him to get out the vehicle, Buelow sped away south on I-43. The deputy, who said he reached a speed of 107 mph while pursuing the minivan and estimated Buelow’s speed to be 130 mph, broke off the chase after crossing into Milwaukee County.

Five days later, on Sunday, Sept. 30, the sheriff’s department received a report of a man passed out in a car outside a trailer home in the Town of Grafton.

When Deputy Stephan Van Pamel arrived, he found the car unoccupied. Deputies then spoke to the woman who lives in the trailer home, Amanda L. Lochner, who told them only she and her two children were inside. She refused to let the deputies search the home, according to the complaint filed in that case.

Van Pamel then spoke with a neighbor who said he saw a man passed out in a car outside Lochner’s home and showed them a photo of a man in the driver’s seat with the door open and his feet on the ground slumped over, the complaint states.

Deputies went back to Lochner’s home, and this time she let them inside. In a bedroom, deputies saw a marijuana bong that Lochner admitted using. Children’s clothing was scattered throughout the room, according to the complaint.

The entire home was cluttered and filthy, with piles of dog feces on the floor and carpeting and food and garbage strewn about, the complaint states.

At one point during the search, a deputy heard a man cough. Lochner then told them that Buelow was hiding in the home. She said she had tried to turn him away but that he ran inside, threw his belongings into the corner of the living room and told her not to tell the cops he was there, the complaint states.

One of the deputies found a sleeping bag in a closet that appeared to be covering something. With this gun drawn, he lifted the bag to find Buelow.

Buelow’s pupils were tiny and he was lethargic. He eventually admitted he had used drugs recently and was transported to a hospital, according to the complaint.

Among Buelow’s possessions, deputies found two drug kits containing items such as syringes, tourniquets and tea light candles, which can be used to prepare and inject narcotic drugs, as well as a cotton ball with heroin residue on it. Marijuana was also found, the complaint states.

According to court records, on Sept. 25, the day he allegedly led a deputy on a high-speed chase, Buelow posted $500 bail and was released from the Sheboygan County jail after being charged with misdemeanor battery.

He is charged in Ozaukee County with felony counts of attempting to flee an officer and second-offense possession of marijuana and misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia and bail jumping. Buelow, who was convicted in Ozaukee County of felony possession of narcotic drugs in 2013, is charged as a repeat offender, which means he would be subject to additional time behind bars if convicted.

He is being held in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Lochner is charged with obstructing an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. She is scheduled to make her initial court appearance on Oct. 16.